STORRS, Conn. -- Katie Lou Samuelson turned toward a television in the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's locker room Monday night to see the final moments of Central Michigan's upset of Ohio State, which followed minutes after Buffalo's upset of Florida State.

"The biggest thing, especially on the women's side, is understanding that you have to be ready to play no matter what," Samuelson said. "When you watch a team like a Buffalo or Central Michigan do what they did, they were probably underestimated by someone and they were good enough to take advantage of that. It's just a warning you have to be ready no matter what because neither Florida State or Ohio State came out and expected them to play the way they did. Anything can happen on any day."

The top-seeded Huskies were a prohibitive favorite heading into their NCAA tournament second-round game with No. 9 Quinnipiac, but knew there were no guarantees. They played like their season was on the line, which, of course, it was.

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UConn reaches 25th straight Sweet 16 with win over 9-seed Quinnipiac

8:37PM

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Connecticut Huskies forward Napheesa Collier attempts to control the ball as Quinnipiac Bobcats forward Jen Fay and guard Edel Thornton defend in the first half of the women's NCAA tournament second round at Gampel Pavilion. (David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports)

Azura Stevens added 14 points and Kia Nurse chipped in with 13 for the Huskies (34-0), who found themselves in a much slower-paced game than their 140-52 first-round rout of Saint Francis (Pa.).

But Connecticut was not threatened in this one either. They opened with a 9-2 run and never trailed.

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UConn reportedly close to naming Dan Hurley men's basketball coach

6:07PM

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Rhode Island Rams head coach Dan Hurley reacts in the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners in the first round of the 2018 NCAA tournament at PPG Paints Arena. (Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)

The University of Connecticut is reportedly close to naming Dan Hurley as the new head coach of the men's basketball team, according to Hearst Media's Jeff Jacobs.

Hurley, 46, led the University of Rhode Island to the second round of the NCAA tournament the past two seasons. The seventh-seeded Rams lost to Duke on Saturday after beating 10th-seeded Oklahoma on Thursday.

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Tonight's game: UConn vs. Quinnipiac, 6:30 p.m.

5:00PM

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Geno on team ball and jazz music00:01:37

UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma talks about how great team basketball is equivalent to a great jazz band.

Twenty years after their only matchup, No. 1 seed Connecticut will play Quinnipiac on Monday in the second round of the NCAA Women's Tournament at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.

Though the schools are located some 55 miles from each other, they might as well be a million miles apart in expectations.

At least they were in 1998, when the Huskies scored the biggest win in program history over the Bobcats 117-20 >> Read more

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GEICO SportsNite: Dangerfield, UConn prep for Quinnipiac

Mar 18 | 11:31PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn hoops00:01:21

UConn Huskies guard Crystal Dangerfield hopes the team doesn't get stagnant after its big win on Saturday as it prepares for Quinnipiac.

Geno Auriemma knows what it's like to build a program from the bottom up. The University of Connecticut women's basketball team had one winning season before his arrival in Storrs in 1985. Today, Auriemma has the highest winning percentage for a coach in NCAA history and the 11-time national champion Huskies are second all-time to Tennessee in wins.

He's also watched Quinnipiac coach Tricia Fabbri build her program from Division II into a nationally-known Division I club, and that included her team hitting rock bottom.

When No. 1 UConn entertains the ninth-seeded Bobcats on Monday in an NCAA tournament Albany (New York) Regional second-round game at Gampel Pavilion, it will be their first postseason meeting and second overall. On Dec. 27, 1998, the Huskies routed Quinnipiac -- which was in its first season in Division I -- 117-20. Auriemma had four players on his roster that would go on to play in the Olympics. Fabbri had players that were originally recruited to play against the likes of LeMoyne, Stonehill, American International and Merrimack.

STORRS, Conn.-- Crystal Dangerfield jogged to the bench at the end of the first quarter of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's NCAA tournament opener Saturday and glanced at the scoreboard.

"I thought it was halftime already," Dangerfield said.

No, the Huskies' record-setting onslaught would continue for another 30 minutes...

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UConn roll to record-setting 140-52 1st-round win

Mar 17 | 1:40PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn00:01:58

Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma discusses UConn's record-setting win against St. Francis in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Azura Stevens scored 26 points to lead six UConn players in double figures and the Huskies opened their NCAA Tournament with a record-setting 140-52 rout of Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday.

The tournament's top seed set a record for points in a tournament game and all-time NCAA records for points in a period (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first).

And UConn's 88-point margin of victory was the second-biggest in tournament history. Baylor beat Texas Southern by 89 in the 2017 tournament.

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Today's game: UConn vs. St. Francis, 11 a.m.

Mar 17 | 9:15AM

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Mar 31, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma reacts in the second quarter against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs in the semifinals of the women's Final Four at American Airlines Center. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

For the UConn women's basketball team the mandate is simple: return to the top of the mountain.

A year after losing in the Final Four for the first time since 2012, coach Geno Auriemma and Co. begin their path toward the promised land on Saturday at home, when the Huskies take on No. 16-seed St. Francis (Pa.) in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tournament at 11 a.m. at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.

For the first time in five years, the Huskies enter the tournament not looking to repeat as champions but rather looking to steal the trophy back from South Carolina, which snapped UConn's four-year run as national champion last season.

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GEICO SportsNite: Williams, Nurse prepare for tourney

Mar 16 | 11:20PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn seniors00:01:47

Justine Ward spoke with senior Huskies Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse about how they're preparing for their final NCAA Tournament.

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Huskies at starting line for NCAA tournament run

STORRS, Conn. - With an unbeaten record and a top three RPI and strength of schedule nationally, the University of Connecticut women's basketball arrived at Mohegan Sun Arena on March 6 knowing an NCAA tournament bid was in its future regardless of how it did in the American Athletic Conference tournament final.

Fast forward to last Sunday in Loretto, Pennsylvania, when Saint Francis entertained Robert Morris for the Northeast Conference tournament title.

"You win and you advance, you lose and you go home," Saint Francis guard Jessica Kovatch said Friday. "Everyone has that mentality that you have to put everything out there. One bad game and your season is over."

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Auriemma on matchups in the NCAA tournament

Mar 15 | 8:10PM

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Auriemma on tournament matchups00:07:18

On this edition of The Geno Auriemma Show, coach Auriemma breaks down the importance of matchups with certain teams in the NCAA tournament.

On this edition of The Geno Auriemma Show, coach Auriemma breaks down the importance of matchups with certain teams in the NCAA tournament.

UConn's Dangerfield ready for second chance

By Carl Adamec | Mar 15 | 6:35PM

Yet, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's point guard may have never felt so alone.

As the media made its way into the Huskies' locker room at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and surrounded the starters following UConn's overtime loss to Mississippi State in last year's NCAA Final Four semifinal, Dangerfield sat on a bench in front of her corner locker by herself slouched over with, at times, her head in her hands...

But even from her young age the baby of the family would follow her own path.

"I was the girlie one and it took me awhile to get into basketball," Samuelson said. "I was a cheerleader every year for Halloween. I wanted to be a cheerleader. Then I told my mom I wanted to be a gymnast. And she just went, 'No. No. I'm not even going to let you try.'

"I always played with my dolls and toys. I still always went to basketball practice but I would bring my dolls. I don't know when it became serious for me. But even if I didn't really want to do it, I did it."

Road to Final Four takes No. 1 Huskies through Storrs, Albany

Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma watches from the sideline as they take on the UCF Knights in the second half of the semifinals during the women's AAC Conference Tournament at Mohegun Sun Arena. (David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports)

STORRS, Conn. -- Napheesa Collier had a feeling the first thing on the NCAA tournament Selection Show would be the last thing she'd want to see again: Morgan William's buzzer-beater that lifted Mississippi State past the University of Connecticut women's basketball team at the 2017 Final Four and ended the Huskies' 111-game winning streak and their four-year reign as national champion.

"I guess we'll see it a lot through the end of our season," Collier said with a sigh.

Collier and UConn hope that's three more weeks. The Huskies (32-0) are the overall No. 1 seed and the top seed in the Albany (New York) Regional. They will entertain Northeast Conference representative Saint Francis (Pa.) in a first-round game Saturday at 11 a.m. at Gampel Pavilion.

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Who is on UConn's radar to replace Kevin Ollie?

Mar 11 | 10:18AM

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After the University of Connecticut decided to fire men's basketball coach, Kevin Ollie, for "just cause" on Saturday, a replacement must be searched for immediately.

The Huskies haven't had to go through this process in awhile as former head coach Jim Calhoun, who saw 26 seasons and three national titles in his tenure, selected Ollie as his predecessor. This time around, though, UConn will go on a national search.

So who is in mind at the moment?

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UConn fires head coach Kevin Ollie for 'just cause'

Ollie will fight the decision through his union

Mar 11 | 10:10AM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn00:02:22

Larry Ridley and Vin Parise break down the news that UConn men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie has been fired.

The University of Connecticut has fired head coach Kevin Ollie for "just cause," the school announced on Saturday.

"The University of Connecticut has initiated disciplinary procedures to terminate the employment of Head Men's Basketball Coach Kevin Ollie for just cause," the school said in its official statement. "The University will have no further comment on the matter until the completion of both the University's disciplinary process and the ongoing NCAA investigation."

By UConn stating they are "intiating disciplinary procedure to terminate" Ollie, they don't have to pay him his $10 million remaining on his contract.

Huskies look ahead; Recruit Williams wins Naismith

No University of Connecticut women's basketball player was born the last time the Huskies missed the NCAA tournament Sweet 16, let alone the tournament at all.

On March 4, 1988, UConn walked off the court at Pittsburgh's Fitzgerald Field House following a Big East tournament quarterfinal loss to Boston College knowing its season was over.

The next 30 years have produced 30 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, 23 via automatic bids. The latest came Tuesday when the top-seeded Huskies rolled to their fifth straight American Athletic Conference tournament title with a 70-54 win over No. 2 South Florida at Mohegan Sun Arena.

UConn loses to SMU 80-73, crash out of AAC tournament

Mar 8 | 6:25PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) It has been a difficult season for Southern Methodist University's basketball team, but the Mustangs managed to prolong it for at least another day after defeating the University of Connecticut 80-73 in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

The Mustangs got 23 points from Ben Emelogu, 21 from Akoy Agau and 19 from Jahmal McMurray, but still needed to make seven of eight free throws in the final 37 seconds to thwart a furious UConn rally.

History for Huskies with four in 1,500-point club

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Napheesa Collier's 3-point basket with 4:37 remaining Tuesday didn't get the crowd of 7,501 at Mohegan Sun Arena -- the second largest to see an American Athletic Conference tournament final -- out of its seats.

The fans knew that the top-seeded University of Connecticut women's basketball team was already well on its way to a 70-54 win over No. 2 South Florida and its fifth straight AAC crown. But what they didn't know was Collier's trey made some Huskies' history.

The basket put the junior forward over the 1,500-point plateau for her career and made her the fourth player on her team with to reach that total joining classmate Katie Lou Samuelson (1,638), and seniors Kia Nurse (1,615) and Gabby Williams (1,510 after scoring 19 on Tuesday). It's the first time in program history that UConn has had four active 1,500-point scorers.

UConn gets defensive against Cincinnati, faces USF in final

The Huskies continued their dominance in the AAC Tournament, beating Cincinnati, 75-21. Geno Auriemma praised the defensive effort.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Junior guard Kitija Laksa is a psychology major with a 3.7 GPA at the University of South Florida. She is the 2018 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete for women's basketball.

So if the two-time all-AAC first-team selection doesn't have the right mindset for the second-seeded Bulls heading into Tuesday's AAC tournament final against unbeaten and four-time defending conference champion Connecticut, no one has. USF has lost by 51 and 29 this season and is 0-25 against the top-seeded Huskies in the all-time series.

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UConn shuts out Cincinnati in second quarter, reaches AAC title game

Mar 5 | 9:00PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn00:01:33

The Huskies continued their dominance in the AAC Tournament, beating Cincinnati, 75-21. Geno Auriemma praised the defensive effort.

Azura Stevens scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead top-ranked UConn to a 75-21 rout of Cincinnati in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Monday night.

Napheesa Collier added 13 points for the Huskies (31-0), who have now won 100 games against AAC opponents without a loss since the league began play in 2013.

UConn rolls past Tulane for 30th win; Cincinnati next

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- If there's one thing about the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, the Huskies are consistent.

American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Katie Lou Samuelson paced five players in double figures with 21 points as No. 1 UConn coasted past ninth-seeded Tulane 82-56 on Sunday in an AAC tournament quarterfinal game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The victory gives the Huskies (30-0) their NCAA record 13th consecutive 30-win season and 23rd in the last 25 years. Their only misses since 1994 were in 1999 (29-5) and 2005 (25-8). The second-longest streak is seven. Notre Dame, which lost to Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final Sunday, needs one win in the NCAA tournament for its eighth straight 30-win season.

Katie Lou Samuelson scored 21 points to lead top-ranked UConn to an 82-56 rout of Tulane in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday night.

The unbeaten Huskies saw two players leave the game with injuries. Crystal Dangerfield scored 14 points before going down with a right ankle injury in the third quarter. All-American Gabby Williams also suffered what appeared to be a leg injury and left the game before halftime. Both players returned from the locker room to the bench, but stayed there.

Gray was 10 of 15 from the floor for the Cougars (24-6, 14-4 American Athletic Conference), who have won ten of their last 12. Devin Davis added 12 points for Houston, which shot 45 percent from the field and hit eight of 20 from behind the arc. The Cougars finished 15-0 at home, the first time Houston has done that since 1983-84.

Jalen Adams had 22 points and six assists, Terry Larrier added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Christian Vital had 11 points for UConn (14-17, 7-11), which has lost three of its last four. The Huskies shot 51 percent from the field, including 55 percent in the first half.

By Carl Adamec | Mar 3 | 12:30PM

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Katie Lou Samuelson shared the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year award with Napheesa Collier a year ago.

While her name alone will be on the 2018 trophy, Samuelson was happy to share credit with all of her University of Connecticut women's basketball teammates Saturday morning after becoming the sixth in Huskies' history to win a conference's top individual honor multiple times.

"Even on our team we have a lot of deserving players that could be recognized for this as well," Samuelson said. "None of us would be in the position that we are as a team, as individuals, without each other. We've all had each other's backs and my teammates have supported me through everything...

Azura Stevens feels like she is playing her best ball of the season for the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, but knows she has to be even better if the Huskies are to reach all of their postseason goals.

"I have definitely not gotten there yet," Stevens said. "I think coming in at first it was pretty easy. It wasn't easy, but I kind of started off pretty well. Then I hit a wall. I'm really grateful to my team and my coaches for allowing me to go through that. I had to do a lot of maturing and growing up. They were really patient with me and continued to work with me.

"Now I think it's a confidence boost for myself going into the postseason sort of continuing to do things that I've worked on and being more in tune and in synch with my teammates. What better time for that to happen than right now with postseason play coming up. It feels really good to I guess be on the downward slope of that hill."

Obi Enechionyia had 15 points to lead Temple (16-13, 8-9), which has lost three of its last four to fall a half game behind UCF into seventh place in the conference standings. Shizz Alston had 13 points, but made five of his 15 attempts from the floor. Quinton Rose was 5 of 20 and had 11 points.

STORRS, Conn. -- There was a sense of accomplishment surrounding the University of Connecticut women's basketball team Monday night that sometimes gets lost with all the program has done the past quarter-century.

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Huskies make Senior Night a success

Connecticut Huskies forward Gabby Williams holds up the regular season championship trophy as she and her teammates pose for a picture after defeating the South Florida Bulls 82-53 at Gampel Pavilion. (David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports)

STORRS, Conn. -- For the first time in the history of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, the Canadian national anthem was played at Gampel Pavilion by the UConn pep band prior to a regular season game.

Senior Kia Nurse, the Hamilton, Ontario, native in whose honor it was played Monday night, sang her rendition of O Canada loud and proud as her teammates standing next to her broke into smiles.

"I sound like an angel, are you surprised?" Nurse said with a smile.

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UConn finishes regular season undefeated with 82-53 win over USF

Feb 26 | 9:01PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn00:01:07

The UConn women's basketball team defeated USF, 82-53, on Senior Night to cap its undefeated season.

Gabby Williams scored 18 points and dished out nine assists on her senior night and top-ranked UConn completed an undefeated regular season for the 10th time in program history with an 82-53 win over No. 20 South Florida.

Azura Stevens led all scorers with 21 points and Katie Lou Samuelson had 14 for the Huskies (29-0, 16-0 American), who are now 98-0 in games against American Athletic Conference opponents. They are 86-0 in the regular season and have won all four conference tournaments.

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Nurse, Williams take center stage on Senior Night

STORRS, Conn. -- It took just a few minutes for Gabby Williams to lend Kia Nurse a hand in moving into her dorm room at the University of Connecticut almost four years ago. Little did she know it was the beginning of a friendship that the two believe will last a lifetime.

"I didn't know her. I didn't know anyone that was here," Nurse said. "But Gabby helped me get my bed into my room and that was big for us. I was like, 'She would do this for me?' We went to lunch the next day and we became best friends."

Their four-year careers with the Huskies are beginning to wind down. They will play their final regular season game Monday as No. 1 UConn hosts 18th-ranked South Florida in American Athletic Conference action at Gampel Pavilion.

It's Senior Night.

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UConn's rally falls short in 83-79 loss to Memphis

Feb 25 | 6:37PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn00:00:34

The Huskies fought back late against the Memphis Tigers, but were unable to overcome an early deficit en route to an 83-79 loss.

Mike Parks Jr. and freshman Jamal Johnson each scored 18 points and Memphis extended its winning streak to four with an 83-79 win over UConn on Sunday.

Raynere Thornton added 16 points for the Tigers (18-11, 9-7 American), who played their first full game without injured Jeremiah Martin, the conference's leading scorer.

Jalen Adams scored 25 points and Christian Vital had 19 for UConn (13-16, 6-10 American), which has lost seven of its last nine games.

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UConn pummels SMU, 80-36

Feb 24 | 8:27PM

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UConn coasts against SMU00:02:09

The UConn Huskies clinched their fifth straight regular season AAC title by coasting to an 80-36 victory against SMU on Saturday.

The University of Connecticut women's basketball team is in Dallas for the first time since last March. All-American forward Napheesa Collier and her teammates need no reminders.

The overtime loss to Mississippi State in the 2017 NCAA Final Four semifinals at the American Airlines Center is the 1 in the 101-1 record Huskies' juniors Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson have at UConn.

For Collier, it was also the first time since her freshman year when her Jefferson City (Missouri) High club fell in the district finals that her team lost its last game of the season. She would go on to win three consecutive state titles at Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis before being part of the Huskies' unprecedented fourth straight national championship as a freshman.

UConn lose 77-52 to no. 11 Cincinnati behind poor shooting

Feb 22 | 9:10PM

Kevin Ollie reacts during the first half of an NCAA basketball game against Cincinnati. (AP)

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (AP) Gary Clark scored 10 of his 17 points during Cincinnati's decisive spurt, and the 11th-ranked Bearcats shook off consecutive losses by beating short-handed Connecticut 77-52 on Thursday night for their fifth straight win over the Huskies.

The Bearcats (24-4, 13-3 American Athletic) recovered from a loss at Houston that ended their 16-game winning streak and a 76-72 loss to Wichita State that snapped their 39-game winning streak at home. They play back-to-back games against conference also-rans before finishing at Wichita State on March 4, a rematch that could decide the league title.

Clark had 10 points as Cincinnati surged ahead 34-19. The Bearcats got a lot of open shots against UConn's zone defense and made 12 of their first 18 attempts. They led by double digits the rest of the way.

Katie Lou Samuelson had 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for UConn (27-0, 14-0 American), which led by as many as many as 32 in the first half and built a lead as large as 48 in the final period.

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The players give their best Auriemma impressions

Feb 21 | 8:49PM

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The best Geno impressions00:00:52

Various players on the UConn women's basketball team try their hand at some impressions of head coach Geno Auriemma.

Various players on the UConn women's basketball team try their hand at some impressions of head coach Geno Auriemma.

Parkland tragedy hits home for Williams

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A moment of silence was held prior to the start of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's game with Temple Sunday to remember the victims of last Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

UConn All-American Gabby Williams was among those with her head bowed paying tribute. The tragedy hit home for the Sparks, Nevada, native as on Oct. 21, 2013, during her senior year at Reed High, a school shooting at Sparks Middle School left two people, including the 12-year-old perpetrator, dead and two others injured.

"It did happen minutes from my house, obviously not to the same extent, but it is just kind of like enough is enough, and when is something going to change," Williams said following the top-ranked Huskies' 106-45 win. "It hits home because I'm going to have kids who go to school one day and I have little siblings in high school so it definitely hits home."

Samuelson, Huskies keep rolling

Connecticut Huskies guard/forward Katie Lou Samuelson reacts after a play against the Temple Owls in the first half at XL Center. (David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports)

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Katie Lou Samuelson has this habit -- not one of her best, she admits -- of when she drives to the basket and feels contact, she calls out, "And one," looking for a foul call.

The University of Connecticut women's basketball team's junior All-American's aggressive approach has developed since she first arrived here but she has taken her attack mode to another level in the last month even as she deals with an injured left ankle. It's one of the reasons that the buzz around her national Player of the Year candidacy continues to grow.

Samuelson's aggressiveness was rewarded Sunday as she completed a trio of the old-fashioned three-point plays to go along with four of her specialty, the 3-point shot. Her 27 points paced six players in double figures as No. 1 UConn routed Temple 106-45 in American Athletic Conference action before 13,110 at XL Center.